would nordic skate ski glide wax work rather than oil? this is for the parchment paper fusing . it sounds like great idea with undiscovered uses. shinglessound goof, but too many tornadoes and windy days, insulation factor ? almost all of pantaagucci is made from recyclable plastic soda bottles . i go through my buildings trash can near the mailboxes when we get mailed those neatly folder plastic bags that you are supposed to put your old clothed in so the veterans og falling stars or some other organization that sounds like a reputable org,but it is a different company, whose owners tend to be very rich off your donations,which they dell to make rags, at least the clothes.Very low$$ to the recipients. cars 4 kids fall into this too.i use the prepackaged bags as a emerg rain jacket or more common in my case a ground cloth , for a nap in one of the parks.i have kilos of glide wax, and a couple good sci wax irons. i cant ski anymore so be nice to find a use.

Nice idea using an iron to bond layers of plastic bags to each other. Can this be scaled up with many layers upon layers until the plastic forms a stiff solid layer? It would be nice to be able to make shingle like pieces of plastic for other projects which need hard sheets of plastic material.

"Shingle like pieces" Hey-I think you just gave me an idea without intending to, DIY-Guy! I found that a sandwich of 2 Wally World Bags folded into quarters was already making me wonder what I could do with those little squares of plastic---Shingles? Hmm- Constructing panels for a Greenhouse? (I doubt the plastic would take the sun over time, guess not that one-tho I am told a coat of paint shields from UV-not sure on that one, either) there has to be loads of stuff other than clothing to do with these plastic bags, right? Keep noodlin'

Nick, enough time has lapsed that I can tell you my choice of words was entirely intentional. The intent was to spread the idea of "shingle-like pieces." Congrats on grabbing the idea which was seeded here on Instructables!

BTW, have you started to finalize the shingles-of-recycled-trashbags idea into a concrete form yet? We'd like to see what you have done, or will do with the idea. :)

another thing, using cheap wax paper with the plastic bags is a baad idea, because the paper can sometimes get fused into the plastic if you pull it off too late, or pull it off too early. I recommend using some oil and using a paper towel to apply onto the wax paper (not the plastic!) before fusing. It does make the plastic a little oily, but it will come off easily with a quick soap wash later.

Which takes more energy though, manufacturing new plastic "fabric" or "shingles"? Or does it take less energy and resources to merely melt some already-manufactured plastic sheets into something usefull?

REDUCE: Check! (No orders are placed for manufacturing new plastic.) RE-USE: Check! (Bags received previously are being kept and used.) RECYCLE: Check! (Bags are diverted from landfill back to into products.)

If the concern is about generating a small quantity of heat for recycling, which is better? Landfill? Or recycle?

Or... perform some other act of conservation such as (1.) turning off the computer and Internet connection for enough time to equal the same wattage being used for the plastic fusing process. (2.) Use an existing source of heat instead of an electric iron, such as the bottom of a frying pan immediately after cooking with it. While it is still hot. But that could lead to a larger environmental burden through increased cleanup, greater use of soap, straining the sewer systems with unnecessary water use, etc. (3.) A pre-existing source of heat and an old fashioned non-powered iron could work well together. Some examples would be to use the heat from a vehicle engine to heat an old iron while driving around, or place any kind of iron on top of a wood stove that's being used. (4.) Use the sun and a fresnel lens. Kind of tricky to manage the heat correctly but no so-called carbon "footprint" at all! (Do beware the toxic fumes and pollution which will be worse than any kind of managed and filtered exhaust coming out of your local power company. THEY are regulated and carefully controlled, your aerial toxins would not be filtered, reduced or managed scientifically.) (5.) A glass box type of solar oven might be used to bake sheets together, or again, heat an iron to bring it up to temperature. The solar oven would need 1/2" thick glass but that can be scavenged from a scrapyard. Or put a few sheets of glass on top of each other. Again, no so-called carbon footprint! By the way, I've heard that the jet used by Al Gore has a "carbon footprint" larger than what an average person will use in their entire lifetime! (Sorry Mr. Gore, we're just not buying it.)

After analysis, this fusing of plastic bags project seems to REDUCE so-called carbon "footprints" and should be considered a true eco-friendly manufacturing technique. 5/5 stars for the author! Good job!

I've done the whole "fusing pieces together" thing before, and though you can do it, it's just a lot harder, and also if you screw up, it makes for a very uneven plastic. also, i think they were going for that look, with the stitching visible.

I agree with you. I just made a bag and seeing the stitching is really nice on the outside. Fusing the plastic together again did not work that well. Also really good parchment paper works well, I used the same two sheets for the whole bag. Great Instructable!

right, if done right is the key thing here. I've tried this, and that too is a little tricky, but with a little practice, it sounds like a good idea! Now the only problem is, if you have any space between the thick part and the thick part where you fused the thin sheets together, you'll end up with a small strip of weaker plastic.

Then again, you could maybe take just one thin piece and lay it on there to make it secure. (just don't spend too much time heating the plastic over and over - overdoing it will start to make the plastic... kinda hard and textured.)

I guess I wondered why the careful thought not not use straight pins to keep the pieces together (the red fabric from my Alma Mater) and the plastic, using bobby pins instead-then running a sewing machine (that pokes little holes while sewing) to stitch it together)....ummm...great bag-I need one for my notebook-perfect!

I have tried this a couple times now, and every time I fail. The wax paper always sticks to the plastic so I can't peel it off without leaving ugly little bits of wax paper! It also always ends up really wrinkly and weird.

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